Popular
by dariachenowith
Summary: "I'm not here to play silly games, and I don't make empty threats. I'm here to make a proposition." - AU/AH/OOC, rated M for lemons & language
1. Enter: Edward Cullen

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight. I just like to do my own thing with S. Meyer's characters.**

**Warning: This story is rated M for a reason, if you're not old enough to read that, don't rub my nose in it! Thank you!**

The usual hail goes to L and C, for being there whenever I need someone to be excited with me! This one's for you, sorry I've been so fail otherwise!

Also, a huge thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!

Popular is my newest pet project, my guilty pleasure, if you will. Inspired by the likes of 'Gossip Girl' and '10 things I hate about you' (the movie, not the TV show), and about as grave as those plots ever got. So if the tags I put on my fics make you twitchy – this story won't be one of those to be concerned about, promise!

**If I may ask one thing of you, dear reader (and this is mostly for your own enjoyment): For this story, make a little room in your imagination. If you like to imagine the actors of the movies for the characters, go ahead, but try not to make any assumptions about a character or their actions based on name and description alone. I love to take liberties!**

**Without further ado I wish you as much fun reading as I had thinking this up! A short what-to-expect FAQ section is attached at the bottom.**

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"Edward, you're an utter disgrace."

Carlisle's eyes narrowed as he bit out the words, then after what he probably thought of as a meaningful pause he went on. I toned out his words - they were familiar enough by now that I could have had this conversation with myself. Disgrace to the family, blah blah, ruining my life, blah, nothing but an ignorant little shit, as if I still cared. I didn't even bother to add the mandatory 'oh look at how devastated I am at my own dastardliness' affirmative sounds as he continued to rattle off the list of my supposed - and, in most cases, actual - deviances. Last but not least he tried to appeal to my vanity -

"Look at your sisters, both of them have immaculate track records in both grades and extracurricular activities!" -

while my mother did her motherly best to look struck with grief at what her offspring had become. They should have both known by then that I didn't give a damn about it, but I had long since realized that Carlisle's tantrums were mostly for his benefit, not mine.

Once he had come to an end, or simply run out of anger to vent, he launched into what he called his 'new set of house rules.' This bothered me somewhat, as being exiled to Bumfuck Of Nowhere should have been punishment enough, but this time he seemed to be serious about hitting me where it hurt. Curfew at eight, mandatory; no car, no parties, any and all extracurriculars at school had to be approved by him or mom, no social life to speak of, my allowance cut to the bare minimum of what I'd need for school. As if anyone in this shithole would have noticed if I went to class wearing a burlap sack.

"And no girls-only study groups that end up as an orgy on our living room sitting group!"

That last one made me smirk even though I had sworn to myself not to show any emotions at all. I wondered for a moment if I should interject whether he would have preferred walking in on me screwing round with two guys instead, but swallowed the impulse when the lines around mom's mouth became evident. I knew that she didn't approve of my behavior, but on her own would have been more lenient; yet any actions she perceived as me 'not respecting women' she took as personal offense, and I wasn't ready to antagonize her in earnest, now that my life was reduced to depending on her good will. It was easy to ignore Carlisle's disapproving looks on the few occasions he wasn't at work, but my mother's constant reproach still got to me. What can I say, deep down I was a softy at heart.

Carlisle took my silence as acceptance, and dismissed me with a final, curt nod. By the time I'd left his upstairs study and made my way down to the kitchen to grab a Red Bull from the fridge what little impact his speech had had on me was all but forgotten. I was too broody because of the ordeal ahead of me to dwell on it.

Downstairs, Alice and Rose were about to leave, now that the spectacle of the week was over. Their gloating twin grins instantly morphed into bright smiles as my father followed me, and I was only too glad to escape the, 'Oh, daddy, can we have a couple hundred bucks to spend on stupid stuff we don't really need!' fawning. Not that either of them needed another skirt that was short enough to give any sexual harassment suit lawyer a good defense for the unlucky guy who couldn't resist the ass on a cookie platter.

Popping the can I took a deep draft from it, before I rejoined the estrogen commotion in the hallway. Just in time to get a last warning look from my father, and an emphatic, "Don't screw this up!", before he and my sisters left. More for my own than their benefit I requited their exit with a loud snort, and instantly felt childish when I heard my mother's sigh behind me.

"Edward, really," was all she said, and the look she gave me left a much deeper impression. Still, I was feeling too grown-up to actually show the guilt I felt at making her feel miserable about me, so I did my best to hide the tiny bit of remorse inside me behind a cocky grin. Being my mother, she of course saw right through it, but left me what dignity I still had by ignoring it.

"Grab your things, I'll wait in the car for you."

The only thing more mortifying than having your mother drive you to school on your first day when you're ten is when she does it almost a decade later again. That she drove a flaming red Lexus with light beige leather seats didn't help, nor the fact that, an hour before official start of the school day, no one was there to observe my walk of shame. And being left rotting outside the councilor's office while mom did her Harvard Law School trained best to keep my jail sentence in the unpleasant yet still bearable range didn't sit much better with me, either.

Things started to look up a little when a tall, leggy blonde walked down the hall towards me. Doing my best to turn up the trademark Edward Cullen charm I leaned back in the uncomfortable chair and gave her my most dazzling smile. That she didn't immolate instantly was pure luck, as she would have burned bright in the synthetic pseudo chic clothes she had sparingly wrapped her assets in. I had to admit, she didn't look half bad, if a little too artificial for my taste. Still, great ass and tits. Considering she was probably the most bangable I'd find in Forks, I worked hard not to let my thoughts show while I kept grinning at her.

"Hey there, beautiful, are you my welcome committee, or a nymph straight out of the woods?"

Her derisive snort in reply was the first - and probably only - interesting thing about her. She stopped in front of me, one hand at her small waist, the other clutching her knock-off designer purse.

"Is this what fallen from grace little Upper Eastside shits think flies around here? Can't say I'm impressed."

That one definitely went to her, and I accepted my loss with a curt nod. She graciously accepted, and extended her right hand towards me.

"Jessica Stanley, student body president, and your most promising chance at not ending in juvie."

I looked at her offered hand just long enough to give her a chance to start fidgeting - she didn't, just kept on watching be coolly - then took and turned it over so I could press the barest of kisses against her knuckles. At least she had a decent pedicure.

"Edward Cullen, as you obviously know. So glad to make your acquaintance."

She held my gaze evenly until I released her hand.

"If you want to, you can continue to make fun of me all day long, but I would advise against it. You really don't want me as your enemy, when it's mutually beneficial for us to be friends."

"Is that so?"

Her smile widened, and I had to admit that it was a pretty good imitation of a predatory grin.

"It is. And you should think again about putting away that belligerent grimace you probably think of as charming. I'm not here to play silly games, and I don't make empty threats. I'm here to make a proposition."

The sleazebag in me couldn't keep from giving her the obvious once-over, but I wiped the stupid grin off my face and settled more comfortably into the chair.

"Then let's hear your proposition, Miss Stanley."

"Before I get to that, let me lay out the facts for you, _Mister __Cullen_. You're here not because your parents suddenly found Nature's Call irresistible, but because whatever elite private school you've previously attended kicked you out. As prodigal son it's impossible to have such a blemish on your academic record, so daddy dearest paid off whoever was willing to take the bribe and made it go away, but couldn't keep everything under wraps completely. Now you are here, your last chance to make it through high school without bankrupting your parents. You just need to tough it out one more year and you're off to whatever Ivy League college needs a new wing funded - but for that to happen you need to fly under the radar. Your parents believe that here in Forks it will be virtually impossible for you to get into real trouble, so they hope that this uncomfortable stunt will be a brief one for everyone included. Here, parents still give a fuck about what their kids are up to, and chances are good you won't end up again with the headmaster walking in on you, drunk and stoned, fucking his daughter on his office desk."

I grudgingly tipped my proverbial hat to her sleuth skills.

"Probably not, seeing as the principal has a son, from what I've heard, and I'm not out to expand my horizons in that direction."

"But his wife is a true MILF, and has a big heart for little scoundrels, or so they say," she deflected my comment. We kept looking at each other for several seconds, both trying not to be the first to give in, and she eventually resumed talking when she realized that we were at an impasse. "Anyway, the last thing you need is me, Miss Sweet and Innocent claiming that you seduced me, got me drunk, made me smoke weed and then took advantage of my state."

"That's low," I shot back, tbefore offering her a fake grin that was so wide it made my cheeks hurt. "No one would believe you'd actually say no to me."

She huffed with equally artificial annoyance, but her gaze remained calm.

"Don't underestimate what people will believe. My father's the mayor and next year is election year, you wouldn't believe what some people are ready to use to get votes. But," here she added a dramatic pause, "how about we never find out? I'm sure you're more interested in spending your time here lazily banging your way through junior and senior class instead of antagonizing me. I can be your best friend, and good things happen to my friends."

"Such as?"

She shrugged.

"I can set you up with pretty much everything you need - a date, the answers to your next math test, drugs, make minor mishaps go away, you name it. I throw the best parties, get invited to the rest, and can ensure that you won't bore yourself out of your freaking mind. And all you need to do for me is a small favor in return. It even comes with a little challenge to pique your interest."

I didn't exactly believe her threats - although I was sure that she did - but considering that the next months would be an endless ordeal of continuous boredom for me anyway, listening to her proposition was the least I could do.

"Okay, you have me there. Shoot."

Her triumphant smile made her look almost pretty, probably because it was the only real thing I'd seen of her so far.

"I want you to get rid of Bella Swan, and I want the bitch to suffer until her last breath." Another dramatic pause, then a smile. "As she leaves for college early, or joins her good-for-nothing mother, or whatever, I don't care. I just want her gone, and I'm sure that you'll get the job done easily."

"And in return I get you screw you, or what?"

My laugh didn't sit well with her, judging from the single irritated blink, but she did her best not to show that I had ruffled her feathers.

"No, you douchebag, I'm not re-imagining classic novels nor the insipid movie versions. If you wanna fuck me, all you have to do is ask. Nicely." She smiled coquettishly at that, but got back to business immediately. "What I offer you in return is your flawless transition from weird new kid to the top tier of Fork's social pyramid. No one will mess with you, you can do pretty much whatever and whoever you want to, and I'll make sure that your stay here will be a pleasant one. And, as if that wasn't incentive enough, you get to take down a snotty bitch who believes herself better than the rest of us. Trust me, five minutes in a room with her and you'll do it, no questions asked."

I considered my options for a while, but mostly took my time to make her sweat. She waited with infinite patience, and I grudgingly admitted to myself that - just maybe - I had met someone in Jessica who was as manipulative and shrewd as most of the girls I'd been hanging out with back in New York.

"Do you need my answer now?"

"Either you're in, or you're out. I don't believe in second chances."

"Are you going to ask my sisters something similar?"

The question seemed to surprise her, but she didn't hesitate to reply.

"To join my inner circle? Yes. But as they weren't moronic enough to give any girl in a backwater town like Forks ammunition against them I'll leave it at that. I'm getting the sense here we'll get along well."

I silently agreed with that, and eventually to Jessica's offer, as well.

"Okay, I'll do it. Under one condition."

"You don't get to set the rules," she bit back, but motioned for me to go on when I just raised my brows.

"If she's really such a cunt as you describe her, I'm not going to fuck her."

In reply, she pursed her lips, then shook her head laughing.

"I don't give a shit if you fuck her or not, as long as you get her out of my way. Can't say I don't understand not wanting to bang Plain Jane."

As if perfectly orchestrated the door beside me opened just then, effectively ending our talk. The councillor, who looked like she should have given first hand demonstrations instead of verbal advice to horny teenagers, motioned me inside, and offered Jessica a bright smile.

"Oh, I see you've already met our newest student?"

"Yes, Ms. Zimmerman, the principal asked me to welcome him to Forks High and make sure to show him where everything is. I'll catch up with you before homeroom, Edward."

I left it at a nod - anything else might have made my mom suspicious, who was already eyeing Jessica with way too much interest - and let the councillor usher me into the remaining free seat in front of her desk. My mother disapprovingly clearing her throat kept me from staring down Ms. Zimmerman's blouse as she took her seat - or at least let me do it more stealthily - and we were back to well-trod territory.

What I should do. What I shouldn't. Mainly nothing that involved having any fun at all. Because I had been failing several of my subjects - deliberately, but I didn't interrupt when talk came to that - my parents had deemed it preferable for me to be stuck in those subjects for another round, to 'give me a chance to get better grades.' Only when my mother interjected that maybe a tutoring program might be beneficial I had to speak up.

"Mom, seriously? I'm not going to hang out with some lame geek who just drones on about the exact same thing that's in the books! I can easily learn that by myself."

She simply raised one eyebrow, silently challenging me to prove it, but changed course as she turned to the councillor again.

"Is it possible to maybe seat him next to someone who might be a good influence? At least in the critical subjects."

"Well, yes, I'm sure we'll find a solution there."

She commenced by pulling out a list of what I was sure were the resident lame geeks I had just spoken against wanting to associate with, and started scribbling notes next to my list of classes. The last name made me listen up, though.

"You probably won't need any help in biology as it's the only AP class you're taking, but having you next to Bella Swan might be a good idea. She's been a great help with science fair projects for the last years, she'll lend you a hand if you have trouble keeping up."

I probably hesitated a moment too long to offer my token protest, judging from the frown appearing on my mother's forehead, but they thankfully left it at that. Sooner than expected I had a real excuse to check out this girl who seemed to polarize the social hierarchy of this quaint little high school. I had to admit, I was starting to be moderately intrigued.

Before releasing me into the wild of the hallways Ms. Zimmerman held me back, her open face set to what she probably thought of as supporting or comforting.

"After long contemplation we've decided that it's probably for the best if you come see me, say, once a week? Friday afternoon? Just until you've settled in. Of course, you can always come see me if you need to talk about anything."

I shot a long look in my mother's direction, then agreed to see the shrink - for now. While not exactly comfortable with this, I was ready to make some concessions - and who knew how this might play out? After all, she was barely ten years older than me, and while Carlisle had been very vocal about me not keeping female company, he had specified restrictions to my fellow students, not necessarily women in general.

Outside of her office I made as if to turn away and leave it at a hurried good-bye to my mom, but she interrupted my fast escape.

"Edward, a word, if you please."

Her tone was slightly teasing, but her face all business, and I dropped the coy smile I had already donned in preparation of hitting the female students of Forks High with.

"Sure, what's up?"

"You know exactly what this is about, so don't even think about playing stupid. We both know that while you might have inherited your father's looks, that bright mind of yours comes from my side of the family. The will and ability to twist someone around your little finger, as well. Just because you could have Little Miss PhD in there believe any sob story you could come up with doesn't mean you actually need to go there."

More to humor her razor-sharp assessment of my abilities I gave her innocent, wide eyes, but then had the decency to look away when she just kept on frowning.

"I'll keep it to what she'll want to hear to keep her off my back, then."

"You know that's not what I mean."

I did, and because I got the sense that she was dead serious I held my tongue. Unlike Carlisle, who's tantrums had long lost any credibility with me, her Stern Voice seldom failed to reign me in. Today wasn't any different. Seeing her point proven, she sighed.

"I don't expect you to miraculously turn into a saint, Edward, but I'm serious when I tell you to get your shit together. This is a great chance, and you should use it."

"What's in it for me?" If nothing else, I'd learned from her to always negotiate the hell out of every ultimatum.

"A decent education should be enough," she griped, allowing herself a small smile. At my pained look she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not like we let you starve and live in poverty, you know?"

"But you made sure that there's absolutely no fun left in my life!" I whined, hoping that for once the wounded animal spiel would work with her. Surprisingly, it did, at least as far as softening her features.

"It's not that bad-"

"But it is! I don't even get to drive your car, or Alice's! You've set me up to become a total social pariah!"

"I'm sure that little skank who's been rubbing herself all over your leg twenty minutes ago will keep you from such a terrible fate. Speaking of which, you'd do good to stay away from girls like her. All you complain about now is in place because of women like her."

I couldn't help grinning at her assessment of Jessica, but didn't let her water down my argument.

"Yeah, like she'd even talk to me if she knew just how limited my personal freedom is."

"Maybe we should keep it at exactly that then, don't you think?"

Touché. What do you do when your mom just served you good? Tuck your tail between your legs and admit defeat.

"Point taken. Still, I can't even drive myself to practice. If I pick up any sport, which you and dad both heavily supported, as you remember. Or if there's some emergency-"

She cut me off with a decisive gesture, then sighed.

"I'll cut you a deal. That's what you want, after all, isn't it? You really should consider a career in mediation, son." I gave her my sweetest smile, getting an eyeroll in return. "Get your grades up, and I mean top third of the class, nothing less. And I don't want to get any late-night calls from anyone, I only want to see the principal in the grocery store aisle, and the only size-zero thongs in the laundry belong to your sister. Then, and only then, will I consider easing your sentence."

"Two months, no longer."

"Steady until Christmas, and that's my last word."

"I want my car privileges back then."

"We can talk about that when we get there. If you get there."

The idea of being stuck in restriction hell for months still didn't sit well with me, but it was the best offer I could get, and I would have been a fool if I hadn't taken it.

"Deal."

She grabbed my offered hand and shook it, very business style. "Deal."

Thus reassured she let me trod off, and because she could be evil like that, waved after me when I looked back over my shoulder. As no one was in the near vicinity yet I gifted her with a boyish smile that hopefully reminded her that I could still be her little angel, even if I preferred to don the devil horns nowadays, which might just get me my car keys back sooner.

I hadn't yet found my way through the maze of halls to my locker when I ran into Jessica again, this time with what I guessed was her full entourage. She waved me over with a brilliant white smile, which quickly got mirrored by the three girls surrounding her.

"There you are. Edward, may I introduce my girls, Lauren, Angela, and Victoria."

"Ladies," I nodded at them, reserving a wink for the dark haired one I figured was Angela, provided Jessica had called their names in order. She seemed the most likely to blush at being singled out. No surprise, it worked, and I got a girlish giggle back from her. The cute, slightly shy ones always were the easiest.

Jessica clearing her throat got my attention back on her, and while her smile had dimmed a little during my silent flirting with her cohorts, it now took on an expectant quality.

"Back to what we have been talking about before - are you still in? Or did Mommy Dearest tell you to keep away from us girls?"

"As a matter of fact, she did."

"And?"

"Of course I'm in."

"Perfect," she practically purred, and the only thing lacking of her display of villainous glee was her tenting her fingers in front of her face.

"So, where is this Bella chick?" I asked, looking around, as if by just seeing her I'd know who Jessica had been referring to.

"Just look for the outlet clothes," Lauren snickered, and the other two flunkettes joined her instantly. Jessica offered them a gracious smile that looked awfully close to a pat on the head, then nodded down the hallway.

"See that brown-haired girl next to the tall, blond guy? That's her."

At her direction, it wasn't hard to make out who she was talking about. The guy was easily a head taller than the average student, and while not exactly standing-out-in-a-crowd beautiful, the chick definitely was a looker. Medium height, she had the whole casual thing going for her - hip-hugging jeans and a grey tank top that showed off her perky tits perfectly. I didn't much care for the dark hoodie she donned moments later, stashing her assets away, but such garments could just as easily be removed if the need arose. And a certain need definitely did arise downstairs, watching her stretch, which made both the hoodie and top ride up and reveal a sliver of lightly bronzed skin, before she tugged them down again. I only got a brief glimpse of her profile, which didn't look half bad across the distance, but then I didn't have to look her in the face when I bent her over the next hard surface and fucked her from behind.

None of that showed on my face as I shrugged and replied with the most bored tone I could muster.

"Doesn't look like much. Are you sure you're not just making fun of me with your little proposition?"

Jessica pressed her lips together.

"Trust me, she's more than meets the eye."

"Guess i'll find out in," I checked my time table briefly, "last period before PE. The councillor set me up as her bio lab partner."

"My condolences," the girl most likely called Victoria offered.

First bell saved me from any further insincere pity, and I let Jessica lead me down the hallway towards my class, right by the mismatched couple we had been foul-mouthing. Just as we passed them, the brown-haired girl turned around and our eyes met. From up close she looked better, even though a little more make-up would have done wonders for her. The look in her eyes spoke volumes, but lacking the cipher I didn't understand a thing. Then, as if she had just flipped down the blinders, a nearly insipidly nice smile replaced what had hinted at a bright mind, and she even raised one hand to wave at us.

"Hi Jess, how are you doing?"

Jessica practically swept by her, not even deigning to look at her, and as her entourage did the same, I let my gaze sweep toward the hallway in front of us, too. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the tall guy shake his head and murmur something to the girl, but it was way too noisy to understand a word. Just before entering the adjacent classroom I looked back, and saw the girl still smiling brightly.

Maybe I had only imagined the look she'd given me before the mask had fallen in place. Either way, there was more to this girl than met the eye - Jessica's objective alone verified that, even if I'd mistaken sleep-deprived vacancy for depth of character. And with nothing else to do, seeing as my parents had cut me off from all other forms of entertainment, I was happy to accept the challenge of finding out what the matter was with Bella Swan.

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**I hope you enjoyed this quick'n'dirty first chapter!**

**Now, you might be wondering about a couple of things:**

**So is this going to be ****all ****EPOV?** - Nope, there will be several chapters from Bella's POV further in.

**You tagged this as romance / angst …** - Romance because it's a love story, angst because they are teenagers and their might be some befitting teenage angst. That's it.

**Will there be a HEA?** - I never answer that question, and this story is no exception.

**So this is E/B all the way?** - They are the central couple, so to say, and it is their story, but that doesn't mean it has to be 'love at first sight, I'll never even let my eyes stray to another (wo)man.' If that's a problem for you, you might want to wait with reading until the story is complete and someone you trust can tell you if it's for you, or not.

**Your Edwards tend to be kind of assholes …** - I try to write what I think is a realistic-ish portrayal of a guy in his late teens, I don't think those are known for being well-mannered, soft-spoken, or capable of behaving like a sane human being. If you want nice and gentle Edwards, the world of fanfic is full of them, I won't be cross with you for not sticking with me if you don't like him (only if you blame me for writing him that way).

**Does the twi fanfic-verse really need another highschool fic? **- Yes, I think it does, and I'm trying hard to give it a nice twist.

**Do you have a posting schedule?** - No, but I'll try to provide consistent updates. Life is too crazy right now and I'm using this to de-stress, and trying to adhere to a fixed schedule would ruin that effect somewhat.

**Will there be a lot of these ass-long boring A/Ns?** - Everyone who's ever read any of my fics in progress knows I love my soapbox, but I'm trying very hard to keep it to a minimum. That's what this note is for.

**Do you want reviews? Do you reply?** - I looooove reviews, even short, generic ones. They are the currency of fanfic, and I deeply appreciate readers taking the time for a quick thank you note. If questions arise I will try to reply quickly. Whenever I have the time, I will reply to all reviews I get.

**Do you allow translations? **- No, not by people I don't know and not in languages I don't know myself so I can check whether what I wanted to say translated well.

**Thank you so much for your time and patience! Feel free to hunt me down on facebook and twitter!**


	2. A Lesson In Grace

**L and C, I'd be lost without you!**

**I am completely overwhelmed by the wonderful feedback I've gotten for my new fic. Thank you all so much! I can't tell you what this means to me.**

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I made it through my first couple of classes somehow. One thing the people of Forks High were was, much to my surprise - competent. At least in their capability to annoy me.

In every single class I found myself segregated from what little amount of juicy, available ass there was, usually in a seat way too close to the teacher's desk for my comfort, and with about as much nerd as the councilor had managed to scrape together at short notice.

What was even worse was the fact that everyone seemed out to contribute to the advancement of my rise to acceptable academic heights. If I heard the phrase 'and we'll do everything to help you along' one more time, I was going to scream. My plan had been to relax and play it cool, but faced with so much positive attention I felt like it would have been an utterly dickish move not to at least pretend to read what was printed in my yet immaculate school books.

Thankfully, recess and lunch pulled me back a kind of reality I was more used to - the cafeteria food was horrible, the bathroom smelled of weed, and a band of bullies was busy establishing their moronic brutishness on a hapless nerd in a side hallway.

As was to be expected, I didn't have to suffer the atrocity they tried to pass off as food alone, Jessica made sure of that. On my way into the cafeteria my sisters passed by me in a cloud of perfume and drooling admirers, ignoring me for the most part. That left me in the center of attention at the table.

"Do they really expect us to eat this shit?" I asked the gathered herd of Jessica's mini-mes and accompanying varsity jacketed guys. The cheesiness of the picture they presented made my molars ache, but I figured it would have been too much to ask for anything less vulgar.

"Jessica is working on a campaign for healthier food choices," the shy girl, Angelica or something, chimed in. I rewarded her eagerness to please my curiosity with a smile that got her blushing again. "I'm her campaign manager," she added, her voice dipping into a higher octave, and she cut herself off before she could earn more than a belligerent look from redhead sitting next to her. I wondered how little extra effort it would take on my part to get her to drop her panties for me, but decided I wasn't desperate enough to give it a try - yet. I had no problem with taking advantage of girls who threw themselves at me, but in her case it seemed less about attraction, and more about gratitude for being noticed. She would be useful for other things, though, that I was sure of.

Another of the jocks joined the crowd, making the girls elicit a brief cheer of "Go, Spartans, Go!" that sounded as bad as it was orchestrated. If this was what the infamous cheerleaders were capable of, I'd ask the first one of them I'd bang to keep her mouth shut while I was doing my own to add to her physical education.

"Sports are big in Forks?"

Shy Girl again rose to the challenge of filling me in.

"Duh, we're a small town in the middle of nowhere, Friday evening would be dull without the weekly game."

I had no doubt that it was still an ordeal, but I wasn't dumb enough to voice my thoughts in the near vicinity of the would-be heroes of those few hours. And if it was really that big of a deal I might even get my parents to let me out of my weekend long detention for it.

"You should definitely join one of the teams, if you haven't yet," the blond almost carbon copy of Jessica shot in my direction. I deflected what she probably thought of as a saucy grin with one of my own, and leaned back in my chair.

"I'm not really a sports kind of guy."

It didn't come as a surprise that the horde of jocks laughed - either because they'd already pegged me as one not of their own, or because they thought I was joking, one could never be sure with morons like that - and mostly to humor them I shrugged.

"PE wasn't really a big deal at my own school. We mostly sat around and smoked pot. Wouldn't really call what that yielded lacrosse."

Admitting that could have ruined my street cred with them, but I counted on the fact that they'd cut me some slack, seeing as people from the East Coast couldn't be trusted to know better in their small, narrow-minded world.

"Hey, you can always join the swim team," on the the guys suggested, much to the other guys' laughter, but Jessica seemed unfazed by their mirth as she nodded.

"You should. They actually bring in some trophies every couple of years. Contrary to other people I won't mention." Her jibe was met with collective booing, but she clearly stood above seeing that as critique. Instead, she just kept on talking once the noise had died down. "Coach Fitch is known to enjoy a good bottle of whiskey now and then, so getting a stellar record of attendance is never a problem if you play it right. Just don't make too much of an ass of yourself at any of the competitions, and you should get a couple of easy points for your GPA with minimal effort. Or, if you're bored and actually show up, get a good workout. Some of the guys might think competitive swimming is for wimps, but the girls always enjoy watching."

It was plain enough what she meant by that, and she didn't cheapen herself by adding any kind of lascivious gesture.

"Maybe I'll do that."

As it was, the idea wasn't half bad. If I didn't take any electives my parents would hound me for months, and considering contact sports weren't going too well with my attempt to stay clear of any altercations my slacker nature might incur, it seemed like an acceptable alternative.

That concluded the informative portion of lunch, and all too soon I found myself heading to my next class - biology. I got there early - an oversight I would have to make sure to prevent from happening in the future - and was already sitting on my designated place when the bulk of students arrived. There were few enough students in this cursed school that I started to recognize faces, and I was suspecting that the guy in front of me was called Mike, from my history class..

Seconds before late bell my designated lab partner finally slipped into class, and took her seat beside me. She hadn't changed since I'd first seen her in the morning, and not for the first time I wondered what she'd done that Jessica had it in for her. While the teacher was busy going through the attendance roster she turned to me, a nice, guileless smile on her face that instantly made me suspicious because of its lack of underlying intentions.

"Hi, you must be Edward. I'm Bella, as you must know by now."

Unlike when she'd greeted Jessica in the hall, her voice was even and melodic now, definitely on the pleasant side with a slightly husky undertone. Either she was a secret chain smoker - the utter lack of stench on her clothes pointed otherwise - or it came included with her ass and tits when she'd dipped into the gene pool.

"I do?" I replied in lieu of a proper reply. She didn't blink, but kept looking evenly back at me. I half suspected her to go for a snarky comment about me hanging out with Jessica, but here she disappointed me.

"Of course, Ms. Zimmerman talked to you about it. The councilor, you remember?"

I nodded, because playing oblivious now would just have made me seem dumb.

"Sure."

"Good. Not that I expected you to be too dense to remember what people have told you a couple hours ago."

That made my hackles rise, but she had uttered the words without a hint of malice, as if she was just stating facts. A muscle in her cheek clenched as if she was trying hard not to smirk, but her look remained friendly, so I wasn't sure if I hadn't just imagined things. Maybe Jessica's ominous words had tuned my sensors to the wrong clues entirely.

"I try not to make an ass out of myself on accident."

"Only on purpose, then?" she offered, and this time I was sure she was making fun of me.

Naturally, the teacher took this moment to start droning on about this semester's goals and the importance of our undivided attention for his explanations, and Bella's eyes snapped to him immediately. Pretending I was listening as well I kept looking at her sideways, but the only thing I could read from her was that she had impeccable posture if she wanted to, despite the slouching hoodie she was still wearing. The nice smile was gone, and I got the sense that I could have ceased to exist and she wouldn't have noticed.

I could see how being ignored like that could ruffle Jessica's feathers, but besides that the girl didn't seem to pose any kind of threat to anyone, a couple of slightly off comments notwithstanding.

I was just about to drift off when the dulcet tones of her voice wrestled my attention back from trying to imagine the sounds she'd making when she was riding me. After all, this was biology, right?

"Do you have any particular preferences?"

I almost replied, 'reverse cowgirl, or anything where I can grab your hips and fuck that smile off your face,' before I caught myself, then tried to remember what the teacher had been saying that might have elicited that question from her. The overhead projector showed a list of dates - overhead projector? For real? - and I surmised she must be referring to the lab projects we were required to do.

"Whatever you want me to do, I'm game," I offered, delivered with what a girl had once titled my 'super sexy smirk.' If she was prone to turn whatever I said against me, let her try choking on that.

Just my luck that she didn't. In fact, the innuendo seemed all but lost on her.

"That's nice, really, I thought I'd get more resistence from you. I've already narrowed the list down to four projects that I think are both interesting, and not too much of a bother to make. I mean, sure, the volcano's always a hit with the audience at the fairs, but we're no longer sophomores, right? We can do real stuff."

Maybe it was her obtuseness that got her on Jessica's hit list? Either that, or the joke was definitely on me. Left on my own I'd never have teamed up with someone like Bella, but she seemed like the hyperactive chipmunk kind of geeky girl who would have everything ready and perfect even if I slacked to the point of doing nothing at all. Which might become a certain reality soon, I admitted to myself, as her cheerful explanations washed over me.

Having grown up with two sisters, I had long since mastered the fine art of making women believe I was paying attention to them while I really wasn't, and thus passed biology without any further ado.

I was out of my seat the moment the bell tolled, which led to an unfortunate collide of Bella's elbow with my right kidney when she shoved her chair back just as I was trying to walk by behind it. Pain, sharp, clear, and very unwelcome, zoomed through my body, drawing a cut-off sound of distress from me as I staggered back, and found myself sitting on my chair again before I knew it, half doubled over.

"Oh, my, I'm so sorry, I'm such a klutz!" my unlikely assailant exclaimed, complete with fluttering her hands in distress. Someone in the back snickered, but besides that people ignored my plight as they filed out of class, too eager to get away as there was no blood spurting, or anything similarly spectacular holding them back. Gnashing my teeth, I did my best to pull through the pain and take a breath.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Do you want me to call the nurse or something?" Bella was still hovering beside me, resembling a bouncy ball in her agitation now.

"No, I'm good, you've done more than enou- ugh!"

Trying to get up was definitely a bad idea, even more so as it put me in her threat radius once more, and she ended up punching me in the face as she reached out to steady me.

Damn, but this girl was a hazard on two legs!

I'd had my share of black eyes and bruises, all deserved and usually acquired in a state of intoxication that did a lot to make everything seem hilarious, even despite the pain, and this definitely didn't feel like it - besides me being sober enough to feel the full impact of the heel of her hand on my nose. That didn't help much as a spurt of blood gushed onto my shirt, ruining not only the fabric but also my previously good mood.

"What the fuck is wrong with you bitch?" I screeched, momentarily not caring whether anyone else heard me or not.

Brown puppy dog eyes widened, blinked, then started to brim over with tears.

"Oh god, I'm so, so sorry, I-"

"Shut the fuck up and get out of my way!"

She inhaled noisily, her lower lip trembling, and part of my fury leaked out of me when I realized that she was a step away from losing it right in front of me. This put me in kind of a bind, as part of me was obscenely happy to see her cringe, while the saner rest felt somewhat bad for snapping at her. It really wasn't my MO to lose my cool like that, and she hadn't done it on purpose, or something.

"I'm... I think I'll better go," she pressed out, and turned away. "The blood, it's kinda making me sick, I really should-"

Said, and ran from the room, leaving me flummoxed and in pain. Don't get me wrong, I was glad she was gone - less chance for me to end up in the ER, it seemed - but why did I feel like I'd just made a kindergartener cry?

There was one distinctive upside to showing up with bloodstains all over my clothes and a red, swollen nose to PE - I was instantly ushered to the bleachers to sit that one out. And because it was drizzling outside - Forks' perpetual wetness was just one more reason for me to hate this town - but also for aesthetic reasons I chose to preside over the girls' volleyball playing in favor of the football travesty happening on the field outside.

Many good things were going on in the gym to commend it - female assets barely covered or nicely contained by the restrictions of cotton - staying inside came with one disadvantage - watching Bella Swan turn practice into something out of slapstick comedy. It was mainly lack of talent, because fervor she seemed to possess in excess, much to her teammates' woes. From what I could tell her footwork was decent, her balance actually good, but whenever the ball seemed to get too close to her torso, head, or arms, bad things happened, and not exclusively to her. The fact that Jessica and her posse made their own game of serving in a way that ended up with Bella in collision course with the ball didn't help. If I wasn't still suffering from the aftereffects of her lack of coordination I might have felt bad for the girl, but as it was, I didn't.

About halfway through the ordeal one of the guys came in from the field, and after handing a slip to the girls' coach he made for the bleachers himself, although he chose a seat closer to the field, a couple of feet away from me. He seemed oddly familiar, and after misplaying him in my trig and English class before, I realized that it was the guy I'd seen talking to Bella in the morning. Watching him rub the bandage on his right wrist repeatedly I surmised that probably was the reason why he was here instead of outside in the rain. Because I had nothing better to do - watching the game was entertaining for only so long - I eventually got up and sat down in the row behind him. He looked up briefly but ignored me otherwise.

"Hi, I'm Edward Cullen," I finally broke the silence, trying to put an end to the boredom that started to become uncomfortable. He looked over his shoulder again, then turned back to the game without saying a thing.

If there was one thing I didn't like it was being ignored.

"She responsible for that, too?" I asked, nodding towards his wrist when he deigned to notice me again. "That girl sure can throw a hell of a punch."

He seemed to get who I was talking about as the grim set of his lips briefly turned into a smile, and he proved that he wasn't mute completely.

"You have no idea."

I was waiting for more, but it didn't come. Normally, I would have shut up myself now, but noticing the logo on the front of his t-shirt got me babbling on.

"Hey, are you part of the swim team? I was thinking about signing up for it myself."

It seemed to dawn on him that I wasn't giving up, and he turned half around so that he was partly facing me. Folded in on himself his tall frame seemed less impressive than when he'd been standing, but where at first I'd thought him on the lanky side, from closer I could see that it was more lean muscles and not utter lack of fitness that defined his physique.

"As a matter of fact I'm the captain. Jasper Whitlock." I nodded in acknowledgement while he looked me up and down, probably trying to judge whether I appeared like I could turn out as a good addition to the team, or not. Whatever he saw seemed to make him deem me worthy, because he added, "Tryouts are on Friday, if you don't change your mind till then. Competition's not that stiff, but if you're just out for easy credits, sign up for softball instead. That's where all the slackers eventually turn up."

I couldn't claim that his assumption wounded my pride, but his sarcastic tone definitely deserved a reply.

"I don't mind pulling my own weight, if it's for something moderately worth working for. Unlike using sports as an excuse to throw yourself at the next guy lying on the ground, that is."

His eyes narrowed, and I was starting to wonder if my football joke had yet again landed on deaf ears, when he snorted.

"Yeah, I don't care for that chest thumping much myself. Guess it wouldn't be so bad if they'd win once in a while, but as it is I don't get why they keep supporting the team. Just a misuse of school funds, if you ask me."

My witty comeback was interrupted by a volleyball zooming towards as, hitting the wood right next to my knee, and rebounding onto Jasper's shoulder. Despite his injured wrist he managed to catch it with ease before it could roll off, and he threw it back towards the girls with a grumpy, "Watch it!"

Why wasn't I the least bit surprised that it was Bella who was looking apologetic as she waved in our general direction?

Using the incident to turn the topic back to her - who better than the only one I'd so far seen talking to her? - I nodded towards the continuing farce in front of us.

"Is she always such a walking, talking health hazard?"

He shrugged, and I took that as a polite way of giving an affirmative answer.

"She doesn't really like ball games."

"You two know each other well?"

He shot me another one of those borderline quizzical glances, then nodded.

"We've been friends since freshman year."

Jasper didn't really seem ready to divulge more information about anything without being asked repeatedly, and I figured that for now I knew more than enough, I'd found the person most likely to yield anything useful for my task. The last thing I needed was him telling Bella that I had been asking weird questions about her. So I steered the conversation to a much safer topic.

"What do people do for fun around here? Not that I'll be able to partake in anything for a while, but knowing what's going on might come in handy later."

"Dude, you're really asking the wrong guy about that," was the only answer I got, and eventually left it at that.

By the time the game ended and the girls were flocking into their locker room I figured I'd done a decent job surviving my first day at Forks High, if not entirely unblemished, yet before I could make it towards the door, I found myself accosted by Bella again. If one could call her wringing her hands uncomfortably and shuffling her feet nervously as that. I took an involuntary step backwards, which just seemed to increase her discomfort.

"Hey. Uhm, how's your nose? If it helps, the light swelling doesn't really ruin your good looks, you know?" A hesitant smile disappeared instantly when I kept scowling.

"What do you want?" I grumbled, then tried to soften my tone when she cringed. After all it sounded as if she'd tried to make me a compliment. "Doesn't really hurt anymore, so don't worry about it."

"But I do! I'm really sorry."

"I said don't worry about it." Try as I might, I couldn't quite keep my annoyance down. She blinked owlishly, and it wouldn't have surprised me if she'd gotten right back into my face and told me that it was none of my business what she was worrying about or not, but the moment passed and she remained silent. Again, my guilt resurfaced, and I was talking before I realized what I was even saying. "Look, if it makes you feel better, you can treat me to some coffee."

That surprised her as much as it did me, and her tone warbled between incredulity and disbelief.

"Or a coke, if you like," I unhelpfully added.

"I don't drink caffeinated beverages," came her reply, her voice still flat with doubt.

"Who doesn't drink coffee?" I voiced my own skepticism.

"It makes me all giddy and skittish, and that's really the last thing I need," she hedged, before her eyes widened. "Wait a minute, did you just tell me to ask you out on a date?"

And there it was again, that look from the hallway that was at odds with her behavior ever since. As if she appraised me, judged me, and threw me right in the next mental trash can.

"Of course not," I huffed, not exactly sure if I was more annoyed at her or at myself. Almost instantly she reined herself in, offering me a lighter version of her token nice smile instead.

"Good, because that would have been really awkward! But, if you want to, I can lend you a hand with studying."

The conversation was so surreal that I didn't even consider telling her that I'd prefer her to lend me a hand with something else rather, but took her literal instead.

"I don't think that will be necessary."

"Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind. I've already been through most of our English reading list, and I'm decent enough in French, yet some practice wouldn't hurt me, either."

For a split second I wondered if she was doing this on purpose. Coming from Jessica or one of her posse it would have been a plain invitation, and the entire back and forth her playing with me like a cat with a ball of yarn. Yet, there was no coy smile or biting her lip or whatever else girls thought might look moderately inviting. It was just a sweaty seventeen year old girl in shorts and a loose tee that was a lot less revealing than what most of the others wore, looking still somewhat worried, right in front of me, no devious temptress.

"As I said, I'll get back to you if I ever need anything."

"Awesome!" she chimed, then turned to leave. "See you in bio!"

And missing the chance to somehow physically harm me once more she was gone, leaving me wondering just how weird the people around here were to make me feel like I was the most normal guy in the world.

My talk with Bella had made me run late, and the parking lot was almost deserted by the time I made it there. The familiar red Lexus was idling at the curb, and my mother only raised one eyebrow when I fell into the seat beside her, most likely at the dried stains on the front of my shirt.

"Please tell me the other guy looks worse, but they're not suing?"

"Actually, 'the other guy' is a girl from my bio class, and the only thing you'll have to fear from her is cute awkwardness with a deadly side of bad luck."

"Sounds charming, when do I get to meet her?"

I shot her a long look which she pointedly ignored, pretending that driving took up her entire concentration.

"What about the whole 'no girls' rules you and dad enforced today?"

"That was before one of them punched you in the face."

"Gee, thanks, mom!"

Once she passed the city limits she hit the throttle, letting the car shoot ahead towards the winding road leading to our rented house in the woods. Far, far away from civilization, to ensure my exile was as perfect as it might get.

"By the way, I might be late on Friday, I'm trying out for the swim team."

Despite the break-neck speed, that got me a long look.

"Is this some euphemism I should familiarize myself with?"

I laughed, then winced as that made the tender tissue around my bruised nose hurt.

"Only if you discriminate against a bunch of girls cheering on a squad of speedo-wearing guys who try very hard not to get a boner."

She shook her head and murmured something to herself that I didn't quite catch, but then I didn't need to.

"They'll probably expect you to take this more serious than that."

"Everything's better than sitting at home, staring at the walls."

She didn't reply as she braked, then smoothly pivoted the car onto the small trek turning off from the main road.

"Aren't you going to say something about me making an effort?" I hedged, trying to test the waters.

"You're not on the team yet," she reminded me, but after a second turned her head to smile at me. "But I'm glad you're trying to make an effort."

"That sounds a lot more convincing when you're not echoing my own words."

"You were asking for it."

"Whatever."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed Bella and Edward's first close quarter encounter! More to follow as soon as I'm done churning it out!**

**Because I *knew* I was going to forget something in last chapter's A/N - which, much to my ongoing glee several of you found highly entertaining - a brief addendum:**

**What about your other WIP, 'A Game of Three'?** - I certainly haven't given up on them yet, but AGoT takes a lot of brain power and research (I might like to pretend I'm Miss Smartypants when I roll out of bed each morning, but philosophical discussions and complicated social interactions take preparation to write), neither of which I currently have a lot of. I do research for all of my fics, but some require more, others less. 'Popular' is my fast food right now, while AGoT goes a long way towards a 5 course meal. So, who wants more burger with fries?


	3. Red and Blue

**As always, couldn't do this without my L and C! **

**Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews, PMs, tweets, and FB messages! You're a great audience to post for :)**

* * *

"You're a god damn sadist, you know that?"

"Language!" she tsked, unimpressed by my words otherwise.

"You are a god damn sadist, do you know that, mom?"

She flashed me her best lawyer smile - bright, convincing, and somehow still fake as hell - and shrugged.

"I'm your mother. It's my mission in life to make you miserable."

"You're succeeding, no, even excelling at it right now! Can you now please disengage the locks so I can hop out and go to school? People are starting to stare." They weren't, not really, or not beyond admiring the car, but I wasn't about to admit that. "Do you really want to turn me into a social pariah?"

"I'm sure Skankerella over there will have a remedy for that, don't you think?"

I hadn't realized that Jessica was even there, although now that mom had mentioned her, I couldn't not see her glowering in the direction of the car. And suddenly, the reason of my extended stay in the supple leather seats started to make sense.

"I told you I don't give a shit about her. Besides, she's just standing there, waiting for her crew to arrive. Holding court, or whatever."

"Do girls really do that nowadays? Seems like a bad TV show to me."

"Probably because that's where she got her attitude from?" I offered, hoping that my tone conveyed just how much I didn't care. I got a signature eyebrow raise for it, but when I didn't rise to the bait, she eventually reached up and disengaged the locks.

"Off you go into the wild, my little duckling!"

"Mom!"

There was no evading the kiss she pressed on my forehead, a gesture that had stopped being cute at least thirteen years ago, but what I hated even more was that she felt the need to make it worse by ruffling my hair. At least the windows were tinted, so her misguided display of affection had hopefully gone by unnoticed by the zombie-esque shuffling students arriving all around us.

"Be a good boy, will you?"

That didn't deserve a comment so I let a moment of brooding silence be my answer, before I grabbed my backpack and flung myself out of the car. Walking straight towards the steps leading up to the main entrance I was well aware of the fact that she was still waiting, watching my every move. The hum of the Lexus taking off would have given away her leaving early.

Jessica had draped her shapely ass against the handrail right on top of the steps, conveniently putting her into the way of everyone entering the building. Only two of her posse had arrived yet - my mother subscribed to the belief that not only should she bring me to school, but do so early - so I was only greeted my three sweet smiles instead of four.

"Good morning, ladies!" I did my best to whip out my most charming grin in return. It was early and the coffee hadn't yet fully kicked in, so I blamed them not melting on the spot on that.

"Good morning, Edward!" Redhead and Shy Girl chimed in unison, while Queen Jessica managed to add a hint of a scowl to her face without stopping to smile.

"How's your nose?" she quipped, her features evening out as she got right down to business. I'd wondered how much time she'd give Bella to prove herself a worthy target of her devious ploy.

"Good as new," I lied, and resumed walking, much to her dismay as it forced her to abandon her post if she wanted to continue our conversation. She wasn't pleased at all with that turn, which immediately reflected in the coldness of her voice.

"So what's your plan?"

I considered playing dumb, but that was one thing that didn't seem to fly around here, so I dropped the act quickly after eyeing her askance.

"I don't have a plan yet. If you can't tell, I'm still in lockdown and under near constant supervision, not much I can do about that yet."

Jessica huffed, but before she could tell me what she thought of that almost-excuse, I stopped and faced her fully, using my advantage of height over her to lend some extra stress to my words as I stared evenly into her eyes.

"Have I changed my mind? No way in hell after the show she pulled off yesterday. But that girl's going to be a tough nut to crack, and I'm going to need some time to get her exactly where I want her to be for the takedown."

She held my gaze evenly, and her smile never reached her eyes.

"A month should suffice, don't you think? After all you do think you're sex on legs, and us small town girls are no match for your seduction skill."

Maybe I'd do well to tone down my arrogance, because she had plenty enough of that for the both of us.

"Four, and not a week less. I don't have a car, I'm not allowed to bring anyone home, I have to ask permission of my parents to stay at school longer to look up something in the library, for fuck's sake, and with my luck my mother would just drop by with some snacks to make sure I was actually studying, not feeling up the librarian. How should I possibly make a play on the Swan girl there?"

A muscle in Jessica's cheek twitched, a sign of annoyance if I'd ever seen one. I wondered if she already rued her decision to consider me fit for the task she needed done; then again, befriending me benefitted her more than my possible uselessness in terms of Bella seduction could cost her.

"I want to see some progress soon," she huffed, then let that smile dip towards devious. "Who knows, maybe you just need some proper motivation?"

She left me standing there like that, sweeping by me down the hall, her girls following hastily. I couldn't help frowning after her. Did she really think that her statement would make me scurry into action? The only upside to my constant parental supervision was that while it was extremely humiliating to be no longer in control of my life it also meant that almost all extracurricular actions of mine were accounted for, and there was no wriggle room for any tales she might tell.

Still, her words bothered me the entire morning, to the point where I deliberately chatted up two of the nerds after government to cut down my lunchtime to a bare minimum.

The moment I stepped out of class - feeling slightly stupid for even playing such games - I was accosted by Victoria, and subsequently cursed my own naive arrogance. I was still busy with that while she dragged me down the hallway and pulled me into a maintenance closet, and it only occurred to me then that 'encouragement' might have meant something different than a threat altogether when she yanked down my pants and knelt down in front of me.

Her grip was firm and her mouth warm and wet, and, what can I say, no guy in the world would have protested an impromptu blowjob if he didn't have a very good reason - vindictive wives, shotgun toting fathers-in-law - and I had none whatsoever. Leaning back against the wall I closed my eyes and just let myself enjoy the moment, while it lasted. Which wasn't all that long, considering I'd spent the last six weeks with only my own hand for company, and in desperate need of a willing woman doing exactly what Jessica's redheaded minion was engaged in. Her technique was decent, maybe a little too much teeth, but she didn't protest when I lightly grabbed her hair to ease her into just the right speed, and didn't pull away or spit my jizz out when I was done. A solid seven out of ten, definitely room for improvement, but probably the best I'd get this week.

Victoria was still licking her lips as I was done pulling my pants back up, but I didn't have the heart to tell her that gesture, if anything, only grossed me out. As she seemed to hang around for a reason I put on a satisfied smile - not that hard to come by right then - and reached up to her neck, gently stroking her skin and pulling her towards me that way. No way in hell was I about to kiss her now, but she didn't seem to expect it; the intimacy of the gesture was apparently enough.

"So," I started, letting my smile morph into a grin as hers brightened in turn.

"Yes?"

If she thought I was going to thank her now, she was seriously deluded.

"Do you make a habit of sucking off guys when Jessica tells you to, or should I feel special now?"

The warmth in her smile died, but I gave her massive credit for not being hurt. In fact, a few seconds later she looked downright cocky, which definitely suited her.

"Just so we're clear, she asked, I volunteered. I'm not her lapdog, and I'd never suck a guy off, or let him fuck me, just because she told me to." She paused, looking down between our bodies, but the monster in my pants was still safely out cold, as was to be expected. Catching my gaze again, she continued. "Actually, what she asked for was a handjob, but why waste a perfectly good opportunity to make things more interesting?"

"Why indeed?" I agreed, no questions there.

"I was also asked, nicely, to deliver a message."

Here we go.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, indeed," she snickered, then got serious again. "You have two months. Don't forget, Jessica's offer is your easy way out of actually becoming a nerd, and getting stuff done that the really bright guys probably couldn't pull off. If by then you haven't made any progress because you're so comfortable to let your mommy drop you off at school and smooch you in front of everyone, you're no use to us, at all. Quite frankly, I find it insulting that Jess thinks I need to tell you, but she's a stickler for details. You come with a certain reputation, and while you've shown me enough evidence to support it," - pause, another cocky grin - "Jess wants more concrete evidence. Eight weeks should be enough time for you to lull your parents and everyone else into a false sense of security, and for you to get bored out of your mind and ready for some action. Considering your restrictions, it's enough if you put that despicable bitch in her place, the rest you can deliver until the end of the semester. Got it?"

I nodded, while letting my fingers dance along the nape of her neck.

"Sounds reasonable. Any hope that this wasn't just a one-time performance?"

Victoria pursed her lips, but it was obvious from the way she was looking at me that there was no question about the if, only the when.

"It's not that simple."

"Ah, here comes the catch." I had to hand it to Jessica, giving me just enough to want more, then denying me that until I did her bidding was cruel. And effective, as my recovering libido would have me know.

"Not exactly a catch," she confirmed my unspoken suspicion. "You see, technically I'm in a relationship, and while James and I aren't too big on the whole fidelity thing, he wouldn't like it if I flaunted my affection for your cock too openly in front of him." Which, I was sure, mostly meant Jessica, in turn, wasn't ready to put out too often to keep him happy, as long as I wasn't standing at heel.

"I can be discreet."

"Oh, no doubt about that," she laughed, for a moment breaking her sultry temptress spiel, which made me like her just a bit more, and want her a lot less. "But rules are rules, and while some are meant to be broken, others are here to benefit us all."

I didn't reply, and with her message delivered, Victoria seemed moderately eager to be on her way again, even though she let my hand linger on her neck for a moment longer, before she turned to go. Exactly the moment I had been waiting for.

"Just what is the beef Jessica has with the Swan girl?"

Victoria turned back to me, studying my face with cunning that belied the flunky role she was obviously comfortable with fulfilling. She even seemed ready to give me what I wanted - again - but at the last second stopped herself.

"If she hasn't told you, it's not my place to spill the dish. Why do you even want to know? Does your moral code demand it?"

"It might make my work easier, give me a way in, or something."

"And you really need that? She probably didn't tell you to make you work for it. And prove that you can be her good little soldier, standing at attention, ready to do her bidding. Unless you intend to kick her off her throne and take it for yourself, or build your own little kingdom? I'd advise against it. Forks is barely large enough to support one delusional bitch who thinks she can run the show."

With that ominous message she left, just in time with first bell. Cursing under my breath I snatched my backpack from where I'd dropped it on the floor, and hurried after her. My stomach wasn't particularly happy about having to deal with the absence of lunch, but there wasn't anything I could do about it now.

As I stepped out of the room, I cautiously looked left and right to see if a teacher was scanning the hall for anyone to leave this den of iniquity - we couldn't have been the first to use it for bumping uglies, maybe not even today - but the only pair of eyes that caught mine were Bella Swan's, currently bent over the water fountain across the hall. There was no way in hell that she hadn't seen Victoria leave just before me, but there lay no judgment in her gaze. In fact, she was showing me the most bland face yet, completely void of emotion or intelligence. Three seconds passed, and she straightened, snapping her nice smile back into place where it resided most of the time. The effect was unnerving, at least in the context of Victoria's parting remark.

Was it possible that a power struggle was the reason for Jessica's hate? Going over what little I had uncovered yet, it seemed unlikely. People tended to react a certain way to fallen-from-grace usurpers, and I hadn't caught any of that around Bella. No one whispered, no one looked, and the few people she talked to didn't go out of their way to avoid her if Jessica or one of her entourage were in sight. She was the perfect example of assimilated loner, only kept from that designation by the often time presence of the swim team's blond captain. Not harsh exile imposed on her, but chosen association with only those she deemed worth her attention, yet utterly lacking any arrogance or attitude that normally brought with itself.

Those creepy nice smiles were what threw me off the most. That, and her uncanny ability to harm me unintentionally. Maybe she really was just a nice girl with a penchant for weird statements and abysmal coordination. Somehow, I just didn't buy it.

The next couple of days I did what every sleuth in existence before me has done - I observed. I watched Bella, I watched the people around her, I even went as far as abusing the power I, the popular guy, had over the nerds to ask about her. The fact that I noticed them seemed incentive enough for them to cough up information. Sadly, none of that was even remotely useful.

The only real news I learned was that, back in the day, Jessica and Bella had been friends. I had surmised as much, seeing as Bella insisted on greeting Jessica even though she was always met with ignorance, and in a town this small everyone had once been friends with everyone else. Some people seemed to have elevated that game to having banged everyone else, too, which made my own hand a lot more attractive again. Not being part of the 'cool kids' Bella seemed to be the exception, judging from the lewd but obviously not founded on concrete evidence suggestions I overheard from some of the jocks. She wasn't alone on that, either, which didn't do much to single her out yet again. There was no mentioning of any huge falling out between the powers that be, at least nothing spectacular enough to make people talk about it still.

Girls like Bella weren't uncommon. I was sure that in my old school there'd probably been an entire league of them. I had never particularly noticed them, not just because I can be a jerk in such matters, but because there was nothing interesting enough about them to be noticed of because. I wasn't sure if I would have noticed Bella if not for Jessica's missive, but as it was, I couldn't stop noticing her now.

To her defense, she did everything in the book to make me want to not notice her. Every time I met her she was cheerful and nice; she had an overabundance of gum, pencils, tissues, and whatnot at the ready whenever I needed any, and sometimes even when I didn't; her ceaseless attention to what the teachers were doing was unnerving, and her wardrobe choices soon made me forget that first impression I had gotten of her on my first day. She also didn't manage to injure me again, so even in that department she was unremarkable.

By Friday afternoon I was ready to throw the towel and forget all about revealing the mystery that might be Bella Swan, when she threw me a bone that could have turned into a very embarrassing boner if I hadn't jerked off in the bathroom between my boring as fuck interrogation session with the councilor, and swim team tryouts.

As it so happened, I showed up tactfully on time, already changed into my swim trunks, a towel carelessly thrown over my shoulder. With Jasper's prominent role on the team it wasn't a surprise to find Bella in attendance, but I hadn't counted on her wearing a Forks High logo sporting swimsuit that almost made me forget about a week filled with hoodies. But neither her shapely legs nor the sleek curves the suit molded her torso into were what made me notice her, no. The fact that she was laughing, rather raucously and with her head thrown back, as I entered, and fired a sultry toned, "Don't be such an ass!" at Jasper got my attention.

This wasn't wallflower Bella of the nice smile and dull eyes, not even cute and awkward Bella who did her very best to send me into the ER - no, this was, for the very first time, make-Jessica-pissed-at-me Bella, and for a glorious five seconds I got to see her. Then she noticed me approaching, and like a chameleon dipped into a can of paint she seamlessly snapped back to her usual demeanor.

Just to be on the safe side I pulled the towel from my shoulder and kept it draped over my arm, strategically placed just in case my baser nature was ready to embarrass the living shit out of me. Thankfully, the presence of the other members of the team, and wannabes like me, soon took care of that problem, but the damage was done. I knew it, and she knew it, judging from the way she kept just not directly looking at me.

Once the shock of discovery had worn off, my mind could return to appreciating the physical attributes she couldn't hide from me now, and only then did I notice the dark bruise on her left upper arm. I tried to remember if I'd seen it on Monday already, but I hadn't paid that much attention then. Considering her lack of natural grace I shouldn't have been surprised, I guess, but it didn't look like she'd just ran into a door knob in passing.

The supposedly whiskey loving Coach Fitch called us to order then, and with Jasper silently hulking next to him filled us in on the details. Those were few and cruel, and almost enough to make me turn around and simply walk out, but the chance to see Bella in what I perceived a more natural habitat for her than the classroom was too inviting. Even if it meant that I'd have to show up at least an hour early each morning for swim practice, and stay longer a couple of times each month, depending on progress and the ill will of the coach.

Making the cut wasn't hard, although I felt somewhat proud of myself to be considered fit for improvement, rather than some of the people who seemed to only have signed up to be along for the ride, but with no intention of actually partaking in any competitions. I'd always considered myself a good swimmer, but it was obvious that my lack of technique and previous avoidance of physical exertion whenever possible was putting me at a distinct disadvantage. Which was just a fancy way of saying that in the two laps the coach had me swimming against Bella on the lane to my left she easily outdistanced me by more than my ego could digest. With no one around she could accidentally pummel to death she morphed into a tight muscled creature of speed and elegance - not unlike a seal, but in a much more presentable package - and she didn't show any intention of toning her performance down, for my benefit or anyone else's. From what I heard she wasn't part of the competitive half of the team, but could have easily been according to her lap times, but I didn't really care as long as I got to stare at her wet ass whenever she was out of the water.

The other surprising thing, besides the unexpected increase in attraction for a certain brown-haired girl, was that I was actually having a great time. None of the people on the swim team could qualify as one of Jessica's troupe, but despite - or more likely, because of - that they were easy going and happy to chat with the new guy, even if they didn't give a shit about my past, or how associating with me might increase their social standing. The tone of conversation was light whenever the coach didn't shout us into silent submission or another round of laps, and when we all took turns jumping off the diving boards at the end I almost felt like I belonged.

That was, until I surfaced after a spectacular belly flop, and found my father standing next to the coach, wearing his Serious Face. Apparently, my word wasn't good enough to even trust me to show up for swim practice these days. To make it worse, he called my name when he saw that he had my attention, and I couldn't not acknowledge him. While he didn't outright tell each single member of the team to watch out, they stopped being quite so chatty around me, and to make it worse he told me to meet him at the car in five minutes - or else! I kid you not - as we flocked towards the showers.

"Looks like someone's not entirely buying your penitent sinner act," a husky voice remarked - rather dryly, but with an overabundance of mirth at the same time - behind me, yet Bella was gone before I could find the words for a fitting reply.

Confronted with that I hurried to shower and change, then resigned myself to my weekend long confinement at home. The car was filled with disapproving silence, even though I had made it through the week without a single misstep, which had last occurred before I'd started to shave. I didn't give a fuck about him, and at least I had some time to mull over the newly uncovered facettes of the mystery I found myself presented with.

Even more than the question who the fuck this girl was a different matter kept me occupied - why did she act the way she did?

And, as a footnote, why did I care?

Monday couldn't come soon enough to give me a fighting chance at finding answers to either of these questions.

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the few tidbits we got to learn about the illustrious inhabitants of Forks!**

**Right now two chapters a week seems like a feasible posting schedule, but the daily university grind returns on Monday, so no idea when I'll have time to get the next update online.**


	4. Run, Edward, Run!

**A huge woooooot! goes to L and C for painting my world green and red again! I'd be lost without you!**

**I'd like to thank everyone who left a review for chapter 3, you're an awesome bunch of people! I've recently seen that someone missed a chapter, no idea if the site is sending out alerts reliably at the time? If not, please let me know, I don't mind posting update notices on my blog again. I always post new chapter links on twitter and fb, so you can check there, too.**

**Tentative update schedule: Monday / Thursday.**

* * *

I'd never before been so happy that a weekend was over.

Until my exile in Forks, I'd pretty much spent the time between Monday morning and Friday evening in a vegetative state of trying to get through the week somehow, and lived in the few hours before the clock was reset. 'Living' had usually entailed some form of intoxication, varying company, and activities that, if they'd known about them, our parents wouldn't have approved of.

But now I was utterly cut off from booze unless I intended to raid my father's study's stash - always a bad idea - or my mom's cooking supplies, and I hadn't yet bothered to track down the powers that be here for something more potent. My family were the only ones I was allowed to keep company with, and unless you'd count cyber crime, I was cut off from all possibilities that might get me in trouble.

I'd never been so bored in my entire life.

On Friday, after another uncomfortably strained family dinner, I made the mistake of going online and logging into facebook to hunt down some of my friends. Because I needed a computer for school stuff I'd gotten my laptop back a week ago, but I'd somehow dreaded making contact with the people from home. As I scrolled through my timeline pangs of regret and homesickness kept adding to my misery, which only grew worse when my buddy Jimmy signed off from Skype while Vera, his on again, off again girlfriend chimed a scathing, "I don't know why you're still talking to that loser," in the background.

Meanwhile, the couple of Forks people I had befriended posted pictures of today's football game, making me turn off my computer with a frustrated sigh.

While I'd known so for a week, it only now sunk in that I belonged neither here nor there, and somehow that thought drove me crazy. I'd always been a part of the popular crowd, but never really given a damn about it. I'd taken it for granted, sometimes even moaned about the fact that I couldn't go anywhere without someone wanting to talk to me, or been seen talking to me. Now I had all the time on my own that I could have asked for, and it sucked.

My sisters had long since left, and a glance downstairs into the living room where my parents sat together on the couch, sipping wine and talking softly between them while a documentary was running on the TV, kept me from even wanting to join them. So I stayed in my room, and tried to keep myself company with a book. And when that didn't work, watching some porn. I knew I was in trouble when I felt the serious need to fall asleep long before midnight.

By saturday afternoon I was downright stir crazy. I'd woken up early enough to find the sky still painted red from sunrise, and in my boredom to wait for anyone else to get up I'd even unloaded the dishwasher, and completed my homework. Or as far as I managed, on my own. Realizing that for a sizeable chunk of it I'd either need to ask someone for help because even cramming over my books for an hour or two didn't yield any sort of epiphany was scaring the living shit out of me. Sure, I'd spent the last years slacking wherever I could, yet I hadn't failed a single class because I hadn't been able to get a better grade; I'd deliberately provided the wrong answers, or none at all. Or so I'd thought.

Shit.

Later, I considered joining my mother for her trip to the supermarket, but decided to stay home, lest anyone see me hanging out with her too much. It was bad enough that she still dropped me off at school every morning, I didn't need to add to that. Thirty minutes later I was ready to kick myself in the head, because anything would have been better than staying home, even becoming the laughing stock of Forks' finest.

My father watched me pace downstairs with an uncommonly wry twist to the corners of his mouth. If I hadn't known better I'd have accused him of being happy to see me so miserable, but while I was the first to claim that he didn't like my guts, I knew that his resentment in return didn't go that low. I still jumped when he cleared his throat, and hated myself for the hopeful flicker inside my chest that he'd do something to rid me of dying from uselessness.

"Why don't you go for a run? Coach Fitch mentioned that you'll need to work out if you want to get into any shape to be fit for competing."

I was surprised he'd actually listened to the swim team's coach, and not just ranted about what a terrible disappointment I had proven to be in the past.

A look outside, and I wasn't so sure about his motivation, though.

"It's raining."

Carlisle shrugged.

"Barely more than a drizzle. And it's not like you won't get wet if you swim, either."

"Yeah, but that's in a pool. What's the benefit of getting drenched outside?"

He didn't grace me with a reply, just picked up the newspaper and started reading.

I was sure I caught him smirking as I walked out of the house in my gym clothes and running shoes fifteen minutes later.

I'd never been into sports, and jogging was no exception. Why go on foot anywhere, when you could drive? Even worse, why go out, in the rain, and run around only to end up exactly where you'd started? Doing exactly that, in the cold drizzle now, did nothing to improve my mood, but at least it was something to do.

I quickly found out that I was even more out of shape than I'd feared. Running three laps around a football field was one thing, trying to do the same almost cross-country on badly paved back roads and slick walking paths quite another. First my shoulder hurt, then the muscles in my calves, and before long I was out of breath, and feeling a million years old. It was a very small favor that no one else besides me was stupid enough to be out in the forest today, but on what I estimated was mile three I wouldn't have given a shit if the entire football team had been laughing at me. When I finally managed to drag my sorry carcass back home I swore to myself I'd never do that again - and thankfully didn't inform the entire world about it, as Sunday late afternoon saw me back for another round, this one even worse as I'd been sloppy on stretching the day before, and now had ample time ruing that fact.

I ended up being awake - on my own, no less - at six in the morning on Monday, basically vibrating with energy, and ready to tackle another week at school. My enthusiasm dimmed somewhat when I was confronted with the bad news that my father would drop me off for swim practice, but after my weekend long isolation not even that could dim my good mood. I probably got him suspicious with not throwing a fit, so he decided to stay a couple minutes to observe that I was not about to make a detour between his car and the pool.

Bella and Jasper were already there, same as most of the people who weren't new to the team this year. They greeted me friendly enough, but Bella kept ignoring me for the most part, as if she hadn't sent me off into the weekend with that sarcastic remark of hers. I didn't really get a chance to talk to her until bio, and by then she had snapped back completely into her insipidly nice mode.

Once again I found myself early on my way to bio, but this time deliberately so. I hadn't yet figured out where everyone had their lockers, and it was easier to track my prey down on the way to class than in the full lunch room, where Jessica and her posse might have fouled my plan.

"Hey, Mike, do you have a minute?"

The nerd in question stopped, then shot around as if he was getting ready to defend himself. When he realized that it was me - or just me - he relaxed visibly, but then blinked at me rather owlishly, as if he was surprised that I'd remembered his name.

"Sure," he squeaked, then cleared his throat and tried for a more masculine register. "What's up?"

"I heard you were good in math?"

He nodded, still somewhat hesitant.

"Would you mind lending me a hand there?"

I hadn't yet finished talking when a frown scrunched up his face, and he took a step away from me.

"If this is about the deal I had with Jessica, you can tell that bi- ah, girl that I'm done doing favors for her. I'm not that gullible, and her boobs aren't that great!"

In spite of my irritation that made me snort, which in turn seemed to confuse Mike and kill most of his indignation.

"This has nothing to do with Jessica. In fact, I wouldn't mind her not knowing about this, but I don't really give a shit if she does. I'm asking you because last week I overheard you telling that other guy that you were late for AP algebra, and I figured I'd ask someone I already know rather than a random guy from a list if you'd tutor me."

"Tutor you? As in sit down together and study stuff?"

I was about to tell him to forget about it if he couldn't even formulate a normal, coherent sentence, but then swallowed the acerbic comeback. I needed his help, and while I wasn't exactly begging yet, I didn't feel like I could allow myself to be too choosy.

"Pretty much, yeah. I'm going to pay for the lessons, of course."

"Uhm, okay. What classes do you need help with?"

"Everything to pass the core stuff without embarrassing myself too much?" I hedged, trying to lessen the blow to my ego with a grin. Guess it would have worked better if Mike had been a girl, but he nodded nevertheless.

"No problem. Do you have time Wednesday after school, in the study hall by the library? I'm pretty busy during the week, but if you're free on weekends, we can do some longer sessions then."

I was sure that he was just trying to sound more important than he was, but agreed.

"Sounds good."

"Really? Awesome!"

His emphatic reply weirded me out a little, but I did my best not to show it. The bell saved me from any further awkward conversation, but Mike still managed to assure me that he was my best bet for a good GPA on the way to class.

Bella was already in her seat as we entered, and I caught her frowning a little when she overheard the last bit of my conversation with Mike. At a closer look from me she whipped out her usual smile again, but it seemed a little more artificial today. Or maybe I was simply getting better at reading her.

"Hey! How was your day so far?" she chirped as I fell into my chair next to her.

"The usual. Yours?"

"About the same, although with less recreational activity, I guess."

It wasn't hard to see what she was hinting at, but I chose to ignore the implication. If she wanted to fish around - what for I couldn't quite fathom, but still - she had to do a better job.

"How was your weekend?"

"The usual," she echoed me, a ghost of a real smile peeking through the fake facade.

"Beat up any guys in the produce aisle?"

She tensed, which confused me, and when she replied her voice had taken on a clipped quality.

"Not in the supermarket, no."

The temptation was there to ask where else, but the way her mood had visibly cooled freaked me out a bit, so I decided to let half-sleeping dogs lie before they could come fully awake. Bella didn't seem to mind, seeing as she switched her attention from me to rifling through the print-outs she had stacked neatly in front of her.

"Do you have the project plans for our projects ready?"

We'd decided that we'd split the work two-and-two, and the fact that she obviously had all four here pissed me off, so I decided to play dump.

"Uh, that was due today?"

She instantly fell back into her easy, slightly belligerent smile, now that we were back on common ground.

"Yeah, but I figured you'd have a lot to do on your weekend, so I got all four done."

Any further quip in my direction was prevented by the teacher starting his monotone drone, and I wasn't surprised when Bella's hand shot up first at his question who was ready to have the project plans reviewed. Picking up my bio book I trudged after Bella, yet before she could plunk her papers onto the teacher's desk, I quickly whipped out my own and pushed them at Banner, a colgate commercial strength smile on my face.

"Here are the project plans for the two larger projects, and a little research I got done already. Bella, I think you had the two shorter ones?" Which was a lie, but seeing as she'd done all of them I felt okay with it.

She stared at me for two seconds straight, but then effortlessly dropped back into her act.

"Of course, here they are."

Banner took his time looking over our work, but I already knew that mine was flawless, and didn't expect anything else from Bella. When he was done we were sent back to our seats to be replaced by the next team, and it didn't take Bella long to round on me.

"Why didn't you tell me you got your half of the work done?"

"Because you're cute when you're shocked that I'm not some kind of imbecile who can hardly string more than two words together?"

The irritated frown remained on her face, but at least she wasn't smiling anymore. She opened her mouth briefly, and it was strange how much I looked forward to one of her scathing remarks, but she disappointed me this time when she remained silent. A couple of seconds went by in which I wondered if I'd really pissed her off then, but when she finally did answer, her tone had evening out once more.

"I wonder how long you'll think that when I start kicking your ass because you're slacking off. I expect to get a perfect score for my bio grade, so you better continue like this."

"You and kick my ass? I gotta see this."

Now it was real anger that had her narrow her eyes, and it was hard to hide my elation at getting another rise out of her.

"Trust me, you don't."

She turned away from me then, and ignored any further attempts from me when I tried to initiate a conversation again. By the time Banner was done reviewing everyone's plans I was ready to apologize to her, but my pride kept me from going there. She'd been at least as condescending as I, and if she couldn't take a taste of her own medicine, I wasn't ready to debase myself like that. Finding out what the matter was with her was only so interesting.

Her displeasure with me didn't even last until the end of class, but her nice smile was as enervating as usual. The only thing it accomplished was to renew my interest in cracking that shell of hers enough to be able to peek inside.

I continued with my mission whenever possible over the course of the next two weeks, without much luck. The more I pried, the more her armor hardened, and it was mere coincidence when she slipped up a time or two. By Friday of week three my attempts to get her to lose her cool seemed to have fruited somewhat when she stormed off to the showers at afternoon swim practice after a particularly stupid remark from me, but before I could feel triumphant about it, her avenging angel finally stepped in to save her. Not that she actually needed saving.

"Can't you see that you're getting on her nerves, asshole?"

Most of the team had already filed out of the pool area, leaving Jasper and me mostly on our own.

"What's it to you?" I deflected his anger with indifference. He frowned, then waited until the last two girls went by us, giving us equally weird looks. Once they were out of earshot, Jasper leaned closer, and I had to admit, the entire intimidate-the-smaller-guy-with-your-freaking-height thing worked remarkably well.

"Just leave her alone."

"It's not like I'm harassing her, or something." Jasper just kept on staring, and I hated how much that technique worked, as well. For someone who barely spoke five sentences a day if he could avoid it, he was insanely good at getting his messages across. "Did she put you up to it?"

That surprised him.

"She'd never do that."

"Then why do you go all big brother on me now?" I quipped, then decided to use the chance to try and find out something I'd been wondering about for a while now. "You and her, are you an item? You seem awfully comfy around each other."

The look on his face was unreadable for a moment, but then I realized that it was mostly incredulity, as if I'd asked him something really stupid.

"We aren't."

"What's it to you then if I find her interesting?"

"You have a weird way of showing interest."

I wasn't used to not getting anything to work with in situations like that, but he was still standing way too close to me to call his stance relaxed, so I decided to stop beating around the bush. The last thing I needed was Jasper beating me up for nothing. And it wasn't like I was stalking her. Not really.

"Look, I know I can seem a little offish to people who don't know me better. There's just something about her that brings the worst out in me. Probably because she's the only interesting girl around. When she's not acting like she's dense, that is."

He seemed to believe me, and after a moment he slouched into a more relaxed stance, which was still pretty impressive.

"You're not going to get her to take you seriously if you act like a little boy who's tugging on a girl's hair just because he has no clue what else to do."

"Wait, is that an offer to help me?"

He even considered that for a second, but shook his head. "No."

I snorted, mostly because I was starting to feel really foolish about the conversation we were having. That we were both only wearing swim trunks didn't help.

"Look, I'm not intentionally screwing with her. I just like to talk to her. And she was the one who started this, anyway. If I really get on her nerves I somehow don't see her suffering me in silence."

Jasper nodded, then did something I really hadn't expected - he grinned.

"Nope, she'd tear you a new one."

I wondered if I should ask him if he meant that she actually liked me, but considering that would have made me sound like a ten year old girl I kept that thought to myself. So I left it at a grin, and shrugged.

"There you go."

I would have said more, but my father chose that moment to show up at the entrance, reminding me that I was already running late. Jasper looked from me to him, then back to me, his mirth dissipating somewhat.

"If you want, I can pick you up in the morning."

His offer surprised me, making me slow to answer, and sound way more suspicious than I was.

"Why'd you do that?"

He shrugged, momentarily looking sorry he'd even said anything.

"I know how much of an asshole fathers can become. Besides, he's getting on my nerves, how he hulks around each morning. The other people on the team don't like it, either."

That sounded reasonable, and I wasn't about to ignore what sounded a lot like an olive branch.

"Sure, I'll ask him. It's not like he seems happy with playing watchdog every day."

Jasper nodded, and with that saw our conversation as ended, seeing as he turned away and walked over to where the coach was brooding over a sheet with our lap times.

Later, in the car, my father reacted exactly as I'd expected.

"Certainly not!"

"Dad, he's the captain of the swim team! Don't you think people'd notice the moment he didn't show up for practice?"

He gave me a long look, then concentrated on the road.

"I have no reason to suspect him of not going to practice."

"You really think I talked him into picking me up at the asscrack of dawn just so I can do what, hang out at the closed coffee shop or diner? It wouldn't hurt you to trust me once."

"I've trusted you over and over, Edward, and I don't think I have to recount just how many times you've utterly disappointed me and your mother!"

I hated it when he generalized things like that. As much as mom didn't approve of half the stunts I'd pulled, I'd never felt like she'd been particularly surprised or disappointed.

"I know. And I'm trying to change. I'm really trying. It's been almost an entire month since school started, and you haven't been called to see the principal once!"

I knew I had him when he didn't reply and just kept on gnashing his teeth in silence until he cut the engine in the driveway. He let me stew for another minute, before he gave a curt nod.

"But either your mother or I will pick you up after school."

I nodded, knowing fully well that any offhand reply I might have given would just make him revoke the tiny bit of freedom I'd just regained. He still didn't look happy as I got out of the car, but at least he wasn't offering any additional threats. He must have grown tired of them, eventually.

The weekends were still an ordeal, but between Mike coming over to help me with algebra and trig - under my mother's watchful eye to keep our lemonade glasses filled; I think she only watched because she was still bewildered I'd actually go to the length of asking someone's help, not to supervise us - and my almost daily runs in the woods the time passed with something a little faster than snail speed.

After the last three weeks I no longer felt like a broken steam engine whenever I loped back up the hill to our house. It might have taken me awhile to run three miles without having to stop every couple of minutes to catch my breath, but my stamina was definitely improving, and I'd even exchanged my old running shoes, purchased mainly for their brand and color, for a pair that actually did the job.

On Sunday evening I felt particularly adventurous, and decided to push myself a little more by deviating from my standard tour and extending it towards the town limits of Forks. I still kept to the back roads and forest trails, not just to avoid getting hit by a car in the dusk, but because all that green must have seeped into my mind and made me go insane. I actually enjoyed myself, even though it still felt like some kind of perversion to me. I mean, come on, me and running?

Thanks to my parents' taxi services I hadn't yet had the chance to really explore Forks in its entirety, but I vaguely remembered the gas station on the north side of town from before when I saw it again as I left the heavily wooded area behind and got closer to the meadow bordering on the last, scattered houses. Realizing that I'd strayed from my intended path by at least a mile I stopped and tried to reorient myself, but a single figure moving through the grass caught my attention before I could backtrack my way home.

I only noticed her because her white running shirt seemed to shine brightly in the waning light. Squinting, I felt only somewhat bewildered that it was Bella. Don't get me wrong, the fact that she was pretty much racing across the meadow at a speed I could only keep for a hundred yards, or that she was even out here doing something as physically exhausting as running, was a surprise, but that of anyone in Forks I'd encounter her, not so much.

At first, I wondered if she was running from something, but she was obviously wearing sports gear, and didn't look back over her shoulder, either. When she slowed at the other side of the open field it seemed out of her own volition, not because exhaustion forced her to catch her breath. She couldn't have seen me where I was standing, half hidden in the tree line, and by then she was out of shouting distance again, but I kept my trap shut mostly because the way she stood, hunched over, her hands on her thighs while she stared into the forest, seemed oddly private.

She startled me when she suddenly straightened, then let out a shout that reverberated through the evening air and sent a couple of birds aflight. It was an angry sound, full of frustration, and maybe a little pain, and it chilled me to the bone. She didn't linger, but took off again, following the direction she'd been going before, which brought her back in a wide circle towards the main road leading into town. Yet her motions weren't as smooth as before, there was something off with the way she moved, almost as if she was limping. By the time she hit the road she had increased her speed again, and was almost running normally, and I wondered if I'd imagined it. Maybe she'd just had a cramp.

Because it was getting dark fast I took off myself, but the entire way home I couldn't shake off the feeling that something about Bella had been wrong. I also wanted to know what drove her to run across the fields like the devil was after her, and why she felt the need to let off steam like that. A small, vain part of myself even went as far as guessing that maybe I'd finally gotten under her skin and I was the reason for that shout, but I knew that was nonsense.

On monday morning I downright relished the last time my dad would bring me to school, and for once the silence between us didn't feel strained. Maybe because I was almost antsy to get to practice so I could find out what Bella's behavior had been about, or at least try to. I was out of the car as soon as my father had stopped, and he seemed perplexed when I wished him a nice day.

Ignoring all the less than awake people, I changed quickly, and vibrating with tension made my way out to the pool. Jasper was already there - no surprise, and I was almost sure he'd still end up being first even if he picked me up from now on - but for once on his own, no brown-haired bundle of energy and aggravation next to him.

As I walked towards him, I looked around the room, and finally spied her, talking to the coach next to the bleachers. The first weird thing was that she was still dressed, and I also didn't see her gym bag anywhere near. The other was that she was wearing shades that covered a lot of the upper half of her face, even indoors in the yet dimmed light. I was no stranger to women doing that - it was Rose's number one most important accessory when she was hungover - but somehow I didn't see Bella getting hammered on a Sunday evening.

They ended their talk a short time later, and Bella withdrew to the bleachers, a book as her trusty companion. She didn't even look in my direction once, but I couldn't help glancing at her, even when the coach sent us all into the water.

It was close to the end of practice when she put that book away and in its stead got out a compact mirror. Even across the room I could clearly see the shiner she was unsuccessfully dabbing at with some make-up stuff.

Anger, as hot as it was absurd, zoomed through me, and I almost jumped out of the pool and ran over to ask her who had done that to her, and who I'd consequently get to beat up right this very second.

I actually did make it as far as out of the water, but Jasper held me back before I could take more than a couple of steps in her general direction. When I rounded on him, he gave me a blank face, which only made me more furious.

"Leave her alone. She's not having a good day, and the last thing she needs is your bullshit."

I briefly considered if he could be the one responsible for her black eye, but he didn't seem the violent type, and if I hadn't completely misjudged him, he'd do everything possible to keep her from harm.

"No shit."

"I mean it. Stay away from her," he insisted, then let go of me.

By the time I looked back at where Bella had been sitting, she was gone, leaving me with my mind reeling.

I didn't want it to, but suddenly a lot of the strange things about her started to make sense. The bruise on her arm a couple of weeks ago, the way she kept to herself, how she'd been limping yesterday, her shout of frustration. And there my parents had dragged me to this god-forsaken town because it was supposed to be a better place than New York? At home I'd never had to deal with one of my friends getting abused by someone.

I was already done getting dressed when I realized the slight deviation in my thoughts. Friend - not some girl I might want to fuck, or who I should get to leave town, no - friend. Weirded out as I already was that epiphany really didn't make my day.

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**The next chapter will be the first in BPOV!**


	5. Shake It, Baby

**I'd be lost without the best sounding boards there are, L & C!**

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**BPOV**

Monday, 6AM, or so my alarm clock claimed. _Shit_.

I grimaced and tried to roll over, but the pain zooming through my body chased away the last clinging tendrils of sleep. I ended up lying on my back, staring at the ceiling. I so didn't want to get up. Not because it was Monday, or because of school, but because of what was going to happen there.

The staring. The looks of pity. The stupid questions.

_Shit_.

Downstairs, I heard the door fall into the lock, and a couple seconds later my dad's cruiser pulled away from the curb. _Thank __you __very __much __for __small __favors__!_

Even though I knew that the coast was clear now I still waited for another minute. Sometimes he'd forget something and came back. The last thing I needed right now was another fight with him. The weekend had been bad enough, as it was.

A minute passed, then another, and I knew I'd run out of excuses. Gritting my teeth, I forced my body into action and rolled out of bed. The previously receding pain came back with a vengeance, but I forced myself to dive through it, and somehow made it into the bathroom.

The reflection in the mirror stared back at me with a quizzical kind of defiance. At least the worst of the swelling had gone down, but the dark purple of the new bruise was a constant reminder I really didn't need to see.

_So __fucking __stupid__!_

Gnashing my teeth, I reached under the sink for my makeup bag. Like the many times before I'd found myself in a similar situation I wondered why I even kept all that stuff, then wondered why I even cared. I still contemplated just leaving the house without trying to cover up anything, but then resigned myself to my fate. I might not be vain, but it was days like this one when what little behavior my mom had imprinted on me came through.

_A __woman __never __leaves __the __house __looking __the __worse __for __wear__, __my __ass__._

Dabbing on concealer, foundation, powder, and finish almost let me fall back into my old routine. It was nearly worth trying to throw him off balance. Made me wonder how long it would take him to notice the shiner if I showed up in full make-up, maybe even wearing a skirt and heels. That would look dashing with my bandage.

But was it really worth compromising my choices just to make one stupid guy stare at me for five minutes or so?

The answer was ridiculously hard to come by, and I quickly put my makeup bag away before I could do anything stupid, leaving only a small compact and the concealer out.

I brushed my teeth, dressed quickly and sauntered downstairs, trying to favor my left knee to take the weight off the right. At the fridge I hesitated, then opted to indulge myself a little and ate some fruit instead of my usual breakfast. When I got up my gaze fell onto the chocolate bar my dad had 'forgotten' next to his coffee mug. As if that made up for anything. As if I'd ever eat it.

I remained sitting in the car once I got to the school parking lot. Autumn was already turning towards winter, at least in temperature, and my fingers were ice cold on the steering wheel as I stared at them. I was still tempted to re-start my crappy old Toyota and drive back home. Dad would find out that I'd forged his signature if I stayed home sick, and that was one more shit-storm I didn't want brewing. Technically, I could circumvent that by going to the nurse and playing poor sick girl, but then they'd call him at the station, and what might happen weeks down the road would happen tonight.

The rumbling of another car rolling to a stop at the curb made me look up.

_Him_, of course. Because the universe was out to get me, and didn't believe in cutting me some slack after already dumping a load of crap on me.

Scowling hurt, and I forced my features to smooth out as I watched Edward get out and walk across the parking lot, his father hot on his heels. He seemed uncharacteristically awake and happy, just my luck.

Allowing myself a last, slightly whiny groan I got out myself, and followed them. Pushing the dark shades onto the bridge of my nose was uncomfortable, but if they got me even one less weird stare I'd suffer them gladly.

Inside, Edward's father was talking to Jasper, so I went over to the coach instead. He didn't look the least bit surprised when he saw me shuffling towards him, concern written all over his face. _I __really __should __have __stayed __in __bed__._

"Morning, Coach."

"Hey, Bella."

He kept staring at the stupid sunglasses, but I refused to take them off on principle.

"Is it okay if I sit this one out?"

He nodded mechanically.

"No problem, you can take the entire week off if you need."

"That won't be necessary. I already have clearance from the doc, but I don't want to stress my knee too much."

"Giving you trouble again, eh? If you want me to take a look...?"

_Over __my __cold__, __dead __body__._

"No, thanks, that won't be necessary. I'll be back in the pool tomorrow."

Another nod, and he let me drag my sorry carcass over to the bleachers. I got my book out and settled against the hard wood, determined to get some reading done, if nothing else.

My concentration kept straying, and after a while I gave up pretending that I wasn't glancing over to the pool every couple of minutes. My stupid camouflage came with one advantage - he couldn't see when I was checking him out. And check him out I did, I wasn't blind. Tall, lean, muscles stretching under ater-slick skin - I might even have looked at him once or twice if he's been the most boring guy in the world. I didn't much care for beefcakes, do another reason to appreciate what he was clearly not shy to show.

Normally, he had an uncanny knack for catching me look at him. Either that, or he was constantly staring at me so that our gazes were bound to cross eventually. An insipid smile or two were usually enough to make him lose interest, thankfully, but somehow I never managed to throw him off completely.

But today I could watch and admire as much as I wanted to, and I didn't feel guilty one bit. I might have my standards, contrary to most girls in Forks, but that didn't keep me from getting some inspiration for the couple of nights a month I felt a little lonely. It was bound to be the only remotely pleasant experience of the entire day, so I might as well enjoy myself, right?

Too soon, for that matter, practice drew to a close, and I re-checked my makeup. I'd been careless enough to smudge it badly, so I got the concealer out and did my best to repair the damage, although by now I only cared so much about who saw. I didn't even try to blend it well. It wasn't like I could make the bruise disappear completely. For that I was way out of practice.

Movement by the pool made me look up, and I saw Jasper going all serious at Edward. Of course, the asshole had seen me pull off the shades, and was probably brimming over with stupid one-liners he thought were funny.

I certainly didn't need Jasper to defend me, but it was nice that someone had my back.

I didn't want to stress my luck too much too early in the day, so I packed up quickly and left for the main building before Edward could find a way to corner me. It was still early, but enough people were around to annoy me. They stared. They pitied. I glared, even if they couldn't see it because of the tinted glass.

I somehow made it through the first half of the day without punching anyone in the face, or getting accosted by Edward. Not for his lack of trying, though. Twice I had to hide in the girls' bathroom, which got me running into Lauren and Vic. While the latter used the moment to give me a real smile, Lauren got all cocky stance, bright smile, but I discouraged her from opening her mouth with an emphatic, "Shove it." We were both surprised that it worked.

Lunch could have been tricky, but Jasper's hulking presence, paired with a barrage of dirty looks he kept shooting at anyone in our near vicinity kept me mostly unbothered. At least as far as the herd of lemmings around us was concerned.

"What the fuck is this?" I asked, looking at the disposable cup he'd put down in front of me five minutes ago. I had tried to ignore it, but after finishing my salad there was no way around it.

"Milk shake."

"I know that."

He cocked one brow, a silent, 'Then why did you even ask?' if there'd ever been one.

"What is it doing here?" I went on, still annoyed.

"It's for you. Your favorite. Strawberry."

"You know that I can't drink it."

Jasper just kept on looking at me, all my fuming for naught.

"I don't deserve it!" I eventually broke down, hating how whiny I sounded. And how much I really, really wanted that stupid sugar bomb.

"Bullshit. Just drink it."

To underscore his words he pushed it further towards me. I cringed away from it, casting around for straws.

"I already broke my diet in the morning. Can't do it again now."

"Did you eat the chocolate?"

It wasn't the first time my dad had pulled that stunt, and I'd ranted about it endlessly before.

"No."

Another nudge, putting the milk shake close enough that the straw sticking out almost touched my nose.

"Drink it. You'll feel better if you do."

I shook my head one last time, but when Jasper just kept on looking at me, I eventually caved. It tasted just like I'd known it would, sweet, delicious heaven. Halfway through it I told myself I'd stop any moment, and when I didn't I contemplated running to the bathroom and barfing it all up, but I knew I'd never do that. I was fucked either way.

He was looking downright smug when I pushed the empty cup away, and I glared in return.

"Why do you keep doing that? I tell you every time to stop it."

"Because you need a pick-me-up."

"I don't."

Another one of his token silences followed, mocking me with every word he didn't say.

"I really didn't deserve it," I continued to whine.

"You did."

"Did not."

"Just because you lo-"

"It's not just that!" I cried out, making heads turn, but right then I didn't care. I still lowered my voice as I went on. "I was too slow! I should have been faster! Or at least gotten my hands up to protect my face! The only fucking thing I deserve is this!"

Jasper wasn't impressed when I pulled off the shades and pointed at the black eye. He also didn't add anything, so I shoved them back on, winced, and wished that the day was over already.

Next up, bio, aka my least favorite subject this year. And the reason for that was already trailing me when I left the cafeteria. Just my luck.

I barely made it into class before he caught up with me, thanks to straining my right leg more than I should. For once he didn't seem out to publicly annoy me, as he went by me without uttering a single word and took his seat. Trying to keep my face as blank as possible I sank into mine, but couldn't keep a small wince in when I stretched my leg.

I had expected some wisecrack right away, but when Edward remained as silent as never before, I had to turn my head and look at him. I'd been wrong, his sometimes idiotic remarks weren't the worst - the open discomfort and sympathy I saw now was.

"Are you-" he started, then cleared his throat noisily. "How was your weekend?"

"What do you think?" I bit back, my irritation overriding any working brain cells I still had left after the last couple of days.

It was almost comical how he opened his mouth, then closed it without saying anything. His eyes narrowed, but whatever thought was responsible for that didn't make it past his lips. I liked him a lot more when he was silent, but I knew this couldn't last.

"Just leave me alone today, okay? Everyone else does a great job ignoring me every day, can't you just be like them for a couple hours?"

Somehow that came out wrong, all accusatory and weird, but Mr. Banner thankfully chose that moment to launch into his usual monotone lecturing, giving me the perfect excuse to ignore the main reason for my irritation.

The lesson proved to be endless. I counted five heavy sighs from Edward, and three times he took a deep breath, readying himself to break the uncomfortable silence between us, but aborted the mission before whatever crap he wanted to shovel reached his vocal chords. I was so tense that before long even the parts of me that weren't bruised or strained hurt, and I bolted from my chair the moment the bell rang.

Turning down the next hallway towards the nurse's office I still had my hopes up that he wouldn't run after me, but no such luck. The only thing I accomplished was to maneuver myself away from the main flood of people, where not even a nervously stumbling nerd might have saved me.

_Just __perfect__._

"Bella, wait!"

I would have ignored him and plowed right on if he hadn't used his advantage in height to get around me, and physically bar my way. Sure, I could have feinted to the left, then stepped around him on the right, but that idea made me feel even more ridiculous, so I did the only thing left - I stopped.

If I hadn't been so grumpy and annoyed with the world to begin with I might have found the lost way he was trying to initiate conversation cute, but today I lacked all appreciation for it. I just wanted to go home, curl up on my bed and wait for the day to be over.

"What do you want?" I bit out, again hoping that open hostility would discourage him.

"Shit, do you have to act like such a bitch?" Not the reply I expected, and not one I was happy to ignore.

"Actually, yes, and if you call me that one more time I'm so going to make you sorry for being born!"

That took the wind out of his sails, and he looked sincere when he apologized.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it, I just... I wanted to... shit."

I tried to step around him, but he kept himself between me and freedom.

"Can you please leave me the fuck alone?"

"No?"

The uncertainty in his voice actually made me crack up, throwing my temper off balance, but the pain that came with my involuntary smile got me right back to business.

"Why not? it's not like you care about me. Just go off and screw some idiotic cheerleader, or something."

That seemed to piss him off just a little bit, but he remained stubborn, and in my way.

"Can't you accept that maybe I really am caring about you?"

Now it was my turn to be perplexed, and he effortlessly used my moment of silence to launch his assault.

"Who did this to you?"

I swallowed, hating the question just as much as I'd always hated it when anyone else had asked it before. It had been a while since anyone didn't know, but that didn't change a thing.

"No one. It was an accident."

"Oh, come on! You don't accidentally run into someone's fist! Don't give me that bullshit."

"It's none of your business," I tried to deflect his indignation.

"Then I'll make it my business," he grunted, but switched tactics before I could react. "Look, my mom's a lawyer. Okay, she specialized in international finance law, but still, if someone's abusing you, she knows people, she can help you."

I hadn't counted on him being that blunt. I might have admired it any other day, but not so much right now.

"I don't need anyone's 'help'," I huffed, using my fingers for air quotes.

"You sure? Because to me you're not looking your best."

"And you'd know, wouldn't you, with the way you keep staring at me all the time?"

He only looked guilty for a moment, then shrugged it off.

"You're about the only thing worth staring at around here, can't hold that against me."

"'Thing'?" I echoed. Edward had the grace to look abashed, but got over it quickly.

"Girl. Person. Woman. Take your pick. I'm not in the mood for a PC grammar discussion."

"Good, because neither am I!"

Giving him a hard shove, I almost managed to escape, but he caught my left upper arm before I could get away for good. Gritting my teeth, I forced my body not to react, and instead stared at where his fingers were still holding on to me.

"Let. Go," I pressed out, and when he didn't I pulled my arm closer to my body until he either had to take a step forward, or release me. He opted for action number two, which was a good thing, unless he was jonesing for a broken nose.

"I can help you," he tried again, and when that didn't help offered, "Or, there are self-help groups for people who suffer abuse out there."

"My father is the damn Chief of police, don't you think he'd crack down on anybody who dared lay a finger on his little girl?"

"Sure, unless he's the one doing it."

My indignation inflated and was swiftly replaced by real anger. I felt my body shut down, relax, get ready. It took the last bit of my self control to get the next words out between my teeth.

"What did you just say?"

Whatever he thought of himself, Edward wasn't a really good judge of character, because he took my rage for some kind of admittance.

"I said that your father-"

"Just because the guy who impregnated your mother is a fucking jerk doesn't give you the right to go around accusing other people's fathers of beating their kids!"

"Hey, there's no need to get rude."

"Rude? You just accused my dad of abusing me! You're such a fucking hypocrite!" That shut him up momentarily, and I used that bit of advantage as much as I could. "Look, I get it, you think you're god's gift to Forks High. You got the looks, and if you'd care to use them the brains, too. How about you stop for a moment and use the empty space between your ears? Not every bit of bullshit Jessica feeds you is based on anything remotely resembling the truth. The fact that she rubs her snatch on your face doesn't mean anyone gives a fuck about her, either."

He looked a little like a turtle, blinking rather stupidly at me. Instead of continuing my verbal onslaught, I turned around and walked away, deciding that I'd take my chances with the PE coach if I couldn't get to the nurse first.

"She didn't, and I wouldn't fuck her anyway."

I should have continued on, but his words made me pause, then turn back around.

"What?"

He grinned, as if my reaction was some kind of victory for him.

"I wouldn't fuck Jessica even if she offered herself to me on a silver platter."

"And you really think I care about that?"

His shrug might have been meant as nonchalant, but it was obvious that he expected a pat on the head now.

"I'm not as superficial as you think I am."

"But obviously twice as stupid."

My words had no effect on him, which in turn angered me to no end. As if it wasn't already enough that he'd made me lose my cool, now he made me feel defensive as well.

"Screw you!"

"I'd love to!"

That really did not deserve a reply.

I was still fuming when I got home hours later, my ass sore from my second round on the bleachers in a single day. On the way I'd picked up groceries, but the police cruiser already sitting in the driveway proved that I needn't have bothered. I parked my car beside it, then lugged my bags inside.

The chocolate bar was still sitting on the table, but the mug was gone, and the TV blaring from the living room announced my father's presence, as if the car wasn't enough. Sighing heavily, I turned to the fridge and started stacking the contents of the bags into it.

"Bella? Do you have a minute?"

Hidden by the fridge door, I allowed myself to make a face, before I steeled myself for what I knew was so come. Maybe next time I'd ask Jasper if I could stay at his house for a couple days longer.

"Sure, dad, I'll be right with you. Do you want a beer?"

Maybe trying to pacify him might work this time.

"What I want is for you to come over here right this very minute, young miss."

Sighing again, I resigned myself to my fate. There were no words for how much I fucking hated this town.

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**Hope you enjoyed the brief glimpse into Bella's mind - on Monday we'll be back to EPOV!**

**I love to hear your thoughts :)**


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